Gears of War: Toy Soldiers
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: The COG of old had created the Locust, and the COG of the present day had created the DeeBees. Both had ended up turning against their creators.


**Toy Soldiers**

With a yawn, Kait Diaz rose from her slumber.

It was ironic, being on a Condor and getting the best sleep she'd had in months. It was potentially further ironic that she was actually inside one of these things, rather than salvaging one of them. And potentially even ironic that she and Del were the only two people in its hold, rather than it being filled with DeeBees. Granted, she wasn't sure how much of that was actually ironic, and how much of it was just simple observation with no deeper meaning, but whatever. She'd had a good sleep. After all the shit that had gone down in her life since this madness began, that was a victory in of itself.

Course it didn't really make up for more recent madness. Nor was being well rested enough to alleviate the sound of Del's snoring. Because while it wasn't as loud as her uncle had been before…well, when he'd been alive, his mouth was open, drool was coming out of it, and his lips were twitching. And not just in the breaths he was taking, loud enough to be heard even over the sound of the Condor's engines.

"Shut up Del," Kait murmured, as he let out another snore. She leant back against the plane's hull and yawned. As refreshing as her sleep had been, she could still use more of it. If the Swarm just up and died today, she'd be happy to find a place and sleep for a week.

Del let out another snore and murmured something.

"Told you to shut up," Kait murmured.

Del didn't hear her. He let his loudest snore yet.

"Del, wake up!"

He let out a start and his eyes sprung open. He'd have sprung himself up as well if not for the harness keeping him in place. Kait gave him the moment he needed to wipe the drool from his mouth before he looked at her.

"Sleep well?" she simpered.

Del groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Bad dreams," he murmured.

Kait had initially planned to follow up with something snappy, but she knew what nightmares were like. She'd had them for months. So, she gingerly began to ask, "anything you want to-"

"It was about Dave."

Kait blinked. "Dave?"

"Yeah. Poor guy. Haven't seen him since New Ephyra. I mean, Jack's great and all, even better than Dave, but the little guy had his uses. He was with us on Azura and-"

Kait got out a flask from her belt and threw it at him.

"Ow!"

"Seriously?" Kait asked. "After all the shit at New Hope, at Mount Kadar, heck, all the shit before that, you get nightmares about _Dave_?"

Del held up his hands in mock protest. "What can I say? I have love for all creatures, big and small, flesh or steel."

"Yeah? That include DeeBees? Or the Swarm?" Her gaze narrowed. "Niles?"

Del's eyes darkened in a similar manner as hers. "You know the answer to that."

"Yeah," Kait murmured. She leant back against the hull. "I do."

It sounded more aggressive than she intended. She had no idea why Del was so invested in Jack (currently plugged into one of the Condor's outlets), let alone why he was thinking about Dave, but whatever the case, he'd been there for her. He'd been there at Settlement 2, at her uncle's camp, and gone above and beyond in the wastes of North Tyrus. Now, weeks later, he was still here with her. Wherever "here" was.

"Where are we anyway?" Del asked. He unfastened his harness and looked out the window. "We at Vasgar yet?"

"You're the one at the window genius, you tell me."

Del ignored her and began to squint, before he frowned.

"What do you see?" Kait murmured.

"Sand," he grunted. "Sand, sand, and more sand. It's a bloody desert." He looked back at Kait. "Figures. We go from the coldest place on Sera to the warmest. Heck, bet there's some really wet place in-between."

"Well Del, I know a thing or two about wet places between two landmasses."

It took Del a moment to process what she said, before his face changed. "Ugh." He sat back down and Kait held up her hands in mock defence. "Just saying."

_What am I saying?_

She wasn't sure. She'd meant it nothing more as a joke, but in her experience, give a man an inch, they'd take a mile. This being the COG most of all, where it wanted its citizens to make babies as fast as possible. Not that she was COG…well she was…AWOL COG, but still serving the COG…

"You look good," Del said.

Kait, thinking about cogs and Nassar Embry holding one in a musical pose, looked at her fellow Gear. "Pardon?"

"You look better. I mean, fucked up as Kadar was…well, it seems to have helped."

Kait didn't say anything and Del began to talk faster. "I mean, not for me to say, I mean, weird shit and all that, then there's Niles, and that matriarch, and then there's the reports about the Swarm being more coordinated over the last few weeks and-"

"Del," Kait said. "I'm fine." She smiled. "Really."

The look on Del's face indicated that she believed it. Odd, since she wasn't sure if she believed it herself. Because on one hand, she'd got more sleep over the past few weeks than she had in months. The nightmares were gone. The headaches were gone. Any connection to the Swarm's hivemind was gone, and even if she hadn't been the one to kill Niles, that bastard and both of his bastard AI copies were gone. That was a victory in of itself.

On the other hand, she'd read reports. Heard reports. The Swarm was continuing to attack, but was attacking with rhyme and reason. State outlets were using phrases such as "deteriorating situation," and "immediate withdrawal." Which meant that the situation was bad enough that the COG had to let some truth out, and ergo, it was even worse. And while she hadn't created the Locust, nor had she been the one to decide to let the bodies rot without a vigil, she _had _been the one to reawaken their hivemind. Sighing, and rubbing her hands together, she looked around the interior of the craft. It was empty. There was enough room to carry an entire platoon of Gears here. Now, thanks to the Swarm, the COG couldn't even field DeeBees.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Kait murmured.

"Pardon?"

She looked at Del, certain that what she was saying was indeed ironic, and therefore worthy of conversation. "What Niles said," she murmured. "About the Locust. About being perfect soldiers. I mean, I can't help but wonder…suppose the Hammer of Dawn was never created. Suppose the COG kept control of their locations. What then? Would E-Day just happen to the UIR?"

"Well, maybe not the whole erupting from the ground thing," Del murmured. "But…" He trailed off – he clearly didn't want to think about it.

"And now there's a whole new bunch of drones," Kait continued. "Locust, DeeBees, clever men and women think they're so clever that they can give their dogs a long leash. Just…" She pounded her fist against her palm. "Just toy soldiers in the end, aren't we?"

Del remained silent. She'd wondered if he'd have come to the COG's defence, least with the DeeBees. But no words came out, and she wasn't surprised. Strange as his affection for bots like Dave and Jack were, he wasn't stupid. He had to know how bad things were. Had bad things would continue to get. That it was just them flying in a ship this size was testament to that, because for all its military might, the COG lacked manpower. Even after recruiting as many Outsiders to their cause, they still lacked it. Hence, the absurdity of travelling to Vasgar in a plane meant for DeeBees that couldn't even be used anymore.

"**You two kids strapped in?"**

Kait heard the pilot's voice echo. Del gave the roof a guilty look before putting his harness around him.

"**Well, if you aren't, any lacerations are on you. We're touching down in ten. We're, heh, back in the UIR."**

Kait gave Del a confused look. He gave her one in return.

"**Back in the UIR?" **the pilot asked. **"The Roaches?"**

Both of the Gears remained silent.

"**Ugh, great. I'm flying above desert infested by grubs and Indies, and I've got uncultured swine in my hold."**

"I know where you've got something," Del murmured.

Kait couldn't help but smile. Even as the plane shook from turbulence.

Maybe this would be for nothing. Maybe Niles was right, that the Locust, the Swarm, or whatever they became known as, were destined to rule Sera. Maybe she and Del were no different from the DeeBees and Locust – toy soldiers, and bit players upon the stage.

Still, at least the headaches were gone.

At least now, she could sleep.


End file.
